Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1527 Progress in Basic Industry ([-])

Wang Huadu, Liu Xuefei, Weng Guangan, and Sheng Dehong got together for a rare meeting.

The meeting place was Qingdao Port Penglai Restaurant, a restaurant frequented by middle- and upper-class people. It mainly specializes in Shandong cuisine, and the proprietor is the famous Xu Hao.

There is no doubt that the four people sitting are not low-class people in any sense. As the second generation of wearers, they have inherent wealth, connections and power: , has successfully occupied more than 7% of the shares in the East Coast Gas Company, and has become the largest private shareholder of this large trust company. In the future, no matter whether it is wealth or power, it should not be left behind; in natural science research Although Liu Xuefei, who works in the hospital, did not become a shareholder of a company like Dong'an Gas Company like Wang Huadu, but as the eldest daughter of former Communist Party chief Liu Weimin, she was a shareholder of Dong'an Company, and her economic strength should not be underestimated. Political status is even more incomparable; Weng Guangan is somewhat similar to Liu Xuefei, but after independently presiding over some projects, he has now jumped out of the scientific research system and become the director of the Yazihu ​​Match Factory, and obtained He bought 2% of the shares of the factory, and also purchased another 3% of the shares with his own funds. He is also the largest natural person shareholder of the factory.Weng Guang'an, who controls the fate of the factory, is indeed very optimistic about "Qianjing" as matches, a sharp weapon of wealth, begin to enter a wider and wider market.

As for the last Sheng Dehong, although he has no special property under his name, and he is not the eldest son or eldest daughter in the family, but his personal ability is quite good. He is only in his early thirties and already ranks as the director of the South African Division of the Overseas Department of the National Intelligence Agency. Throne, who once planned famous incidents such as the defection of officers of the British South African Army, can be regarded as a great big shot.

These people can be said to be the epitome of the second generation of the East Bank today.They are generally just over the age, and they have gradually climbed up to middle-level positions in government departments, enterprise units, and the military system, and have considerable work experience. They have gradually gathered a group of people under them, and they can almost be able to The transition has been smooth, and it will not cause undue turmoil in the country.

Of course, there are also second-generation businessmen at home and abroad (mostly non-eldest sons), and the number of such people is quite a lot (after all, there are too many monks, few places, limited positions, and talents are needed to engage in scientific research). The business conditions vary, but The whole is good (is this not nonsense...).Perhaps only some of these people can make their own enterprises bigger and stronger, and become a pivotal force in the business world, but most of them are destined to be ordinary rich men. It is enough to live well for a lifetime, and they can also save money for their children and grandchildren. A lot of family property, but there is still a big gap with the top figures in those countries.

But this can’t be helped, the number of second-generation wearers is really too much, the society is in the shape of a pyramid, even the second-generation wearers are not exempt, they will be divided into groups, especially those who cannot Non-eldest sons and eldest daughters who hold shares in East Coast Company.Some of them can improve their ranks in the social pyramid through their own efforts, and some can maintain their ranks, but it is destined that some people will slip down their ranks. This is unavoidable, yes laws of human society.

Fortunately, at this time, the four people sitting in the Penglai restaurant are in a good position in the great pyramid on the east bank, and there is still room for further improvement. Even if they cannot jump to the top class in the future, they will become a part of the upper class However, it is also a high-probability event, so the few people chatting here are a little high-spirited, and the topics are related to their respective jobs.

"The scale of the East Coast Gas Company is getting bigger and bigger. There are too many people using your gas lamps. It may have been limited to mines and factories before, but now even some high-end restaurants I’m using it, and it’s the second-generation product, I’m really envious.” Liu Xuefei is a person who doesn’t have much pursuit of material life, so she is really happy for the development of East Coast Gas Company, and she has installed such a gas company in her home. Set, also a second-generation system, used for lighting in dining rooms, kitchens, living rooms, etc.

Speaking of this second-generation gas lamp system, the gas purification and filtration system has been improved on the basis of the first generation. Through the washing effect of lime water, most of the impurities in the gas have been removed, making the gas lamp unique. The faint smell has disappeared a lot, which makes this new type of lighting system begin to enter residents' homes.

It is reported that at present, Wang Huadu himself is lobbying everywhere, and wants to fully roll out the construction of gas pipelines in major cities in China (currently only some large cities have laid short pipelines for testing purposes), and concentrate on providing urban lighting. .This huge project is undoubtedly "fascinating" (the compliment in the "Kommersant" report), but at the same time it is expensive, at least at this stage the state finances can't afford it - they don't even have the money to complete it The renovation of water facilities in each county and the construction of urban water supply systems - there is no other way but to raise funds from the society or borrow from overseas.

Overseas borrowing is naturally impossible, because it involves many sensitive political and security issues, and Wang Huadu himself is unwilling to share this piece of fat with foreigners, so he can only raise funds from the private sector. bond.However, it may be that over the years some "bad railroad stocks and bonds" ("Kommersant" once slammed the stock of the Prairie Railroad, because it can't give back to investors at all, is simply looting the middle class on the East Coast. No one is willing to buy part of the additional stock issued by the company despite the hype in the advertisements of the East Coast Gas Company, but no one is willing to buy part of the additional stock issued by the company, only willing to buy mortgaged bonds, and it must be a fixed interest rate, otherwise No one cares at all.

Such a deserted sales situation has greatly delayed the East Coast Gas Company's pace of raising funds. At present, only a limited amount of funds has been raised to complete a small part of the pipeline construction in Dongfang County, the capital. The progress is horribly slow.Regarding this situation, Wang Huadu is also very anxious, because he knows that the pipeline is the king, and he understands that if he can't take the lead in enclosing the territory at this time, it is hard to say what will happen in the future.Because, God knows when the government will see that this project is profitable, or for the purpose of anti-monopoly, a large central enterprise such as "National Lighting Company" and "National Gas Company" will be established again to start the construction of gas lamp pipelines in various cities. He, Wang Huadu, still doesn't sit on wax?This is not unfounded worry, but a completely possible fact. Although the East Coast Gas Company is also a large state-owned enterprise, it is difficult to know what the people above think.

Therefore, in the face of Liu Xuefei's jokes, Wang Hua just waved his hand in distress, and said, "Don't mention this. I just want to say that if you have any money that you don't need, come and buy the additional shares issued by the company." Or bonds, you won’t suffer. Our company has obtained permission to build gas lamp pipelines in Dongfang County, Qingdao County, Ping’an County, Zhenhai County and Xihu County, but it is in a state of waiting for the rice to be cooked. Depressed. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great opportunity to make money. Once the pipeline construction is completed and the gas lighting system is in normal operation, you can sit at home and count money in the future. This kind of small and long-flowing business should best meet the investment needs of you "big households" right?"

"Who will buy the stock of your shabby company? If I have money, I will continue to invest in the match factory project. Now the output of potassium chlorate is still quite unstable, even the output of matches is also unstable. Alas, I still have A lot of interesting things have to be realized one by one, who will invest in your crappy company?" Weng Guangan, who was sitting beside him drinking tea, stroked his messy hair and said in a mocking tone: "Your crappy gas lamp, There is an inexplicable strange smell, and it is not good to eat in a restaurant. I really can't figure out how there is still a market. Your research and development is too bad. It is such a small matter to remove the smell that it has gone through two generations of products. Solve it. Heh heh, let's fire the R&D director, there's nothing wrong with it."

It is said that since the East African Transportation Company allocated a 650-ton flute-shaped ship to run the route from Djibouti to the mainland, the raw material bottleneck of the Duck Lake Match Factory in charge of Weng Guangan has been greatly alleviated.The input of external potassium salt (currently only one ship of potassium salt is transported back in a year) has increased the production of potassium chlorate* to a certain extent.However, another major raw material for the preparation of *potassium chlorate is *calcium chlorate. This is required to be taught to the North Chemical Plant, which is more difficult, because many by-products of the plant's soda ash production line are put into bleach. The production of bleaching powder and bleach—these two things are in great demand, and papermaking, textile, water supply and other enterprises are in short supply—they are left to the Duck Lake Match Factory for consumption, which undoubtedly restricts the output of matches.

At present, Weng Guang'an is already looking for a new method to prepare potassium chlorate, intending to bypass the demand for raw materials from northern chemical plants.However, it seems that there is no clue at present. The crocodile brand matches, which have been enthusiastically responded to by the market, can only be produced one after another under the limited supply of raw materials. At the same time, it is a tragedy to limit the supply to the market.

Speaking of breaking the bottleneck of raw material supply, Weng Guangan accidentally discovered the second element in the halogen family besides chlorine when he tried to extract potassium salt from seaweed, kelp and other plants.This halogen element, which was later named "iodine" by the Academy of Natural Sciences, has been researched for a period of time, and under the direct guidance of Song Qiang, the director of the Northern Chemical Plant who is about to retire (perhaps the appearance of iodine brought back some of his memories...), linked it to medical use, i.e. iodine for disinfection, treatment of hyperthyroidism, etc. - of course the latter still needs time to be verified, even in the current East On the other hand, the disease of hyperthyroidism cannot be called a disease, and most people turn a blind eye to it.

But in any case, the accidental appearance of iodine must have promoted the progress of East Coast chemistry and medicine.The only regret is that the patent of this "little thing" was forced to be transferred to the North Pharmaceutical Factory (for which Weng Guangan and his assistants received a patent transfer fee of 2000 yuan in total), and it has nothing to do with Weng since then. But as a discoverer, Weng Guang'an's name will naturally appear in the chemistry textbooks of the East Coast and even countries around the world in the future. This is undoubtedly the highest honor, and it may be more attractive than making a lot of money.

Watching Weng Guangan and Wang Huadu belittle each other, Liu Xuefei just smiled and said nothing.The soda ash production workshop of the North Chemical Plant, where she is currently serving as a technical consultant, not only produces hundreds of tons of soda ash every year, but also produces by-products of great economic value such as caustic soda, sulfur, and bleaching powder (agent), with annual sales exceeding 20 yuan.As a well-known researcher of the Academy of Natural Sciences, she provides fixed-point technical support for the Northern Chemical Plant. For this reason, she can also get a huge amount of dividends from dry stocks every year, sometimes thousands of yuan.

The money, together with the dividends of the East Coast Company shares and the output of some of her own industries, is enough to support her to continue her research on her beloved chemical industry-obviously, this is a privately invested research out of hobbies, and the output The production and patents are naturally owned by herself-now her interest has shifted to dyes.More precisely, there was a keen interest in aniline dyes derived from coal tar.

In fact, in today's east coast, the utilization of coal tar is still not complete.A large amount of coal tar produced by the coking plant has no other use except being used by the dye factory to produce dyes such as aniline violet (if the coal tar residue such as pitch is not counted), it is wasted It is a pity that a lot of resources have been lost.

Moreover, the current production of the dye factory is also very painful.Because some important intermediate chemicals (such as strong oxidants, etc.) cannot be produced industrially and can only be prepared in the laboratory, chemical dyes such as aniline violet and anilin black can only be produced in a semi-laboratory state , which directly affects the output.So you can see that even though the chemical dyes produced on the east coast surpass the plant or mineral dyes of European countries in all aspects, due to insufficient production, most of the market can only sit back and watch. Spain), lac insects (produced in India), madder (currently basically monopolized by the Netherlands), indigo (a lot of output in the Caribbean and British colonies in North America), Brazilian sumac (do not explain...), yellow wood, catechin (Brown dye, from India), mignonette, saffron, annatto and other natural dyes to occupy.

Therefore, Liu Xuefei is still very interested in breaking the bottleneck of industrial production of chemical dyes and entering this huge market with unimaginably lucrative profits.

(End of this chapter)